OT- eBay situation help
 

I sold this Ruth for $551 on eBay. The buyer is now complaining that the card is missing half the back and there is a 4 mm chip on the top left front. Do the pictures in my listing not show that? Now he's opened a case and I'm just curious whether or not I'm going to win. I know they almost always side with the buyer, but this is just ridiculous.

I'm sure many of you have had things go over worse, but this is the first buyer that is really pissing me off... I sent him a message stating that the flaws that he's complaning about were clearly in the pictures. Do you guys think eBay will side with me? Here's the listing...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290616205175...84.m1562.l2649

I would just go ahead and offer him a refund if he sends the card back in the same condition as which he received it. It's not worth the headache.

I agree with David. You offer a 7 day return. I would take it back from the tool. Sorry a clown ended up winning the card. Best of luck in your dilemma.

Andy

The thing is, I'm not sure I'd get the card back. Right after he won the auction, he said he accidentally bid on it and he took over a week to pay. might just be a case of buyer's remorse

I always laugh when I see the excuse that someone bid on something by accident. Thats like driving off in someone elses car by accident. Kinda funny.:D It looks like he bid on it by accident twice, according to the bid history. I would say, if you get the card back in the original condition, give the refund. Also, I would then contact the next highest bidder if their bid was close to the winning bid or just relist it. In my opinion, the price is fair for the grade.

The buyer has a feedback of over 600. Not some newbie. Sorry to hear you are having this problem. Good Luck. Unfortunately, I see eBay and the buyer winning this. Accept the card back and resell.

My thoughts exactly. The buyer is a moron who has buyer's remorse.

Best of luck in the future.

Tell him what a coincidence that you listed it by accident too and he's out of luck.

On a serious note, he will win if he files a dispute. Have him return it and when you receive it give a refund.

probably buyer's remorse after getting the card in hand...as he sees the 3rd bidder is about $100 less.

either way your scans are ok but not that detailed either. use imageevent or photobucket so you can host your own photos and blow up the scans as big as you like.

Agree
 

I agree you should offer the refund to avoid the negative feedback. I don't agree that the photos weren't good enough. They showed every possible flaw with the card.

The pictures aren't great but they do show the flaws. Take the easy way out and accept the return.

As far as afraid of getting the card back, ebay won't make you issue a refund unless the buyer can prove he sent the card back.

Offer refund. You can see the flaws, but I would have listed the flaws in the description to be safe.

Joe

Yeah, take the return. It's the easiest way.

I think I might also block someone who's been unreasonable - After getting the card back and sending the refund, and after the feedback period has lapsed.

I think part of the problems are people bidding and listing from mobile devices. The screen on a phone is simply too small to see the details in a scan.

On a screen 2" across he probably thought the paper loss was paper stuck on that he'd have a chance of removing. And even on my large monitor the chip isn't the easiest to see.

On the selling side It would be well worth being a bit more descriptive. I'm a big fan of brief descriptions, but simply saying see the scan is probably too brief these days.
Lightening up the scan a bit so things like the chip are readily apparent will also help. Retouching to hide stuff shouldn't be done, but adjusting light levels so the scan is more clear is something I wish more people did.

When I was selling I hosted my own pictures, I've never liked the size Ebay limits the pictures to. Most ISPs offer some limited space for file/web hosting. Things I felt might be worth more than a few dollars got nice big scans or photos.

Steve B

Photos were good enough and in my opinion you represented the card precisely as it was delivered, however you offer a 7 day refund without any qualification. I think you are obligated to abide by the 7 day refund policy. I'd state no refunds on graded cards.

If the buyer's not happy with the card, just tell him to just send the card back for a refund. Be very nice about it on eBay. (You can vent on this board, although what if the buyer is on this board too ????) Once you receive the card back just as you sent it, give him a full refund and offer it to the underbidder or relist it. Eventually, block him from bidding on your items.

You could (if you're worry about him sending a empty box back or a different card) open the package in front of the postal service inspector, but hopefully that won't be necessary.

I told him I'd give a full refund when I receive the card. He accepted but now says he's still going to leave negative feedback... Can he even do that?

Yes, he can. If it were me (and I know everybody handles situations differently), I would get rude with the guy at this point. He could have accepted your refund and moved on, but he chose to be a jerk. Fight fire with fire.

This is what I would do: He is also an eBay seller himself. He currently has 136 items for sale. I would tell him that if he leaves you negative feedback, you will use one of your other eBay accounts and buy an item from him and leave him negative feedback as well.

Even if you don't have another eBay account, he won't know that. He knows can block you as a bidder now, but he won't know the user id(s) of you other account(s) to block. It will probably keep him from leaving you negative feedback.

Anyway, that's just my $.02

I'm sorry you ran into a real gem here. I hope he does the right thing and doesn't neg you, but he sounds like the kind of clown who would. Hope you come away clean. Good luck!

Best,

Andy

Yeah, he's asking for trouble with his listings too. The same item listed twice at different prices, the same item with a buy it now and a separate auction....

And he is listing from a smartphone and probably bidding from there too.There's no way he can see any detail at all on those tiny screens.

Steve B

Open another ebay acount.

Bid $10,000 on every item that the guy is selling.

Hit delete on every email you receive regarding those auctions.

Watch new account get thrown off of ebay.

Maybe a bit harsh, but speaking as a guy with perfect feedback on every ebay account I've had (3000+ in total), including the three that were thrown off of ebay, it's kind of fun.

Doug

I like David J's idea!

This is what I would do: He is also an eBay seller himself. He currently has 136 items for sale. I would tell him that if he leaves you negative feedback, you will use one of your other eBay accounts and buy an item from him and leave him negative feedback as well.

Even if you don't have another eBay account, he won't know that. He knows can block you as a bidder now, but he won't know the user id(s) of you other account(s) to block. It will probably keep him from leaving you negative feedback.

Watch new account get thrown off of eBay, followed by being banned for life from both eBay and PayPal on your new account and your real account.

eBay is one of the most sophisticated multi-account (which in itself is within the rules) detecters of any website online. If one account goes down, every account goes down. If you want to still do this,

Clear your cookies including flash cookies or create a new user
eBay recognizes you by your IP address. They detect proxies, so either change your IP (but change it back when you're done and make sure not to go on any eBay owned sites before you do...Skype, StubHub, etc.) or buy a Virtual Private Network (VPN) at a place like this.

If any information is in any way similar to your old account they'll detect it. If you put your location in New York but your IP is in Texas they'll detect it. (a VPN is useful in this situation because you can pick your location) You may also have to buy a virtual credit card. (because your credit cards are linked to you)

See if you can talk to the guy on the phone. Refer him to some eBay feedback related lawsuits. Create some phony law. Have Stephanie J, Esquire write him an email. Most of all, talk to him off eBay. I'm not totally sure, but I would think leaving negative feedback because a buyer left negative feedback would be against some rule. Also, if you say this and create an another account and leave bad feedback or bid on all his items, eBay will suspect it's you and suspicion is all they need to insta-ban you for life. It isn't 1999 anymore and almost nothing will get past eBay.

Or use the computer at the library.
Or have an ISP with dynamic IP addresses.
Plenty of ways around most of that.

Either way doing that would be wrong, and against a load of rules so it's not the best path.

But hitting the BIN on this since it;s identical to an auction that just ended..... Either way he's likely to get a legit negative and a non-performing seller complaint. That IS within the rules.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/120797712753...84.m1438.l2649

Auction
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1959-topps-f...item1c2017c3b5

OR
Buy both of these. I'm pretty sure you'll only get one since it's the same card

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1959-topps-w...item1c202a84b5

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1959-topps-w...item1c202c01c1

Plenty of ways to do something legitimately.

Steve B

Or just be a grown-up and let it go. No good comes of getting down in the mud with a pig. Just broadcast his Ebay ID here so the sellers here can block him as a known problem customer.

He has left you a positive feedback but with negative comments. I believe this is against ebay policies. A jackass for sure! Two days after purchasing your card he won a Goudey Ruth and Gehrig (trimmed) for 760.00. And since he can't leave you a neg now I wouldn't give a refund. This will be a lesson learned by his irrational behavior. He has left 3 negs in the last month including a PSA1 Clemente rookie. Don't refund!

Yes, but if you don't do every other thing I listed it will still be tracked. You may also have some issues based on how the library computers are set up. (all accounts that used the computer at that library banned)

+1. All the other tactics mentioned are way too involved for a transaction that could have been over and done with days ago. Why keep reliving it? And for those scheming on how to use a library computer to really work this guy over, I'm a little frightened. This isn't a bank heist, it's a baseball card.

Agree with the exhibitman. It doesn't pay to get into a stink contest with a skunk.

Richard- I already agreed to refund him when I receive the card. I might open it in front of the mailman just in case

For anyone who wants to block this guy, the ebay ID is plok9226

Cole Hibbard

Given this bit of information. Message him back and say that you've changed your mind and won't accept the refund. I'd go as far as telling the guy to go f*** himself(that's just me though). I believe ebay might end up siding with you given this bit of knowledge. He buys a card from you, gets what he believes to be a better deal on the same card a few days later, and then wants to return yours. Ebay might frown upon this type of behavior from their bidders..

lol...

I figured someone would get where I was going with that...

Hell, he's already gotten the neg. Why not just be a pain in the ass about it..

Knock on his door & work it out in person.

http://forum.mydyingbride.org/images...s/beerchug.gif

I see you got your card back...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1933-Goudey-...item43aa9be092

WOW! I am surprised SGC graded that card a '1'. I know '1' is as low as they go, but with that much wrong with it, and missing half the back, I figured that would be 'A' only.

I'm in no way suggesting any sort of excuse for the buyer of the Ruth, but one thing to be aware of is that the description for the card said: It's a very attractive card, but a chance to get a '33 Goudey Ruth at a reasonable price

I'm guessing the OP meant to say "It's not a very attractive...", as the "but" makes no sense otherwise. I have seen people get emotional over descriptive terms. I had a guy give me low rep points because I described a card as "nice looking" and he didn't agree. Now I avoid that sort of language completely. I provide link to monster size scans on Photobucket, and describe any issues. The scans of the Ruth, especially given the issues, were marginal at best.